tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4315519825552066003.post6205843945512519001..comments2024-01-06T06:28:29.922-05:00Comments on Secret Mountain Laboratory: Strangely Enough...MetaweirdnessG. W. Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14581395028002255543noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4315519825552066003.post-42163728758586889272015-09-01T10:15:18.708-04:002015-09-01T10:15:18.708-04:00Hey G.W.--I was only two streets over from your ho...Hey G.W.--I was only two streets over from your house. Sorry we didn't knock noggins sooner in life. Wonder if you know Mark Cline (who lived a few houses down from me on Valley Rd). His Enchanted Castle Studio in Lexington is a marvel. His haunted house on Haloween is a blast. For creepy tales--how about Celtic Fairy Tales and More Celtic Fairy Tales. Makes Braveheart seem tame. All of this was for children? Yikes! Shocked that I am no more strange than I am. Good finding you in the electron maelstrom--and quite by accident. Check out the Steampunk phenomenon. I think you might find it to your liking. Slainte! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11651553799656547180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4315519825552066003.post-81659880134446896182011-04-15T12:38:00.698-04:002011-04-15T12:38:00.698-04:00There's a difference between telling a story a...There's a difference between telling a story and lying about an actual person. As you have correctly pointed out, C. B. Colby was a real person who was not only NOT a Nazi--he was involved in helping the FBI hunt nazis in the NYC area during the 1940s.<br /> <br />It was a crime for Chabon to use Colby's name, and he is lucky that Colby was already dead. If he wanted to tell a story, he should have made up a name, not that of a real person, whose family and friends could be hurt by the allegations. Chabon should be ashamed of himself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4315519825552066003.post-40934480690978946892010-07-27T14:15:42.093-04:002010-07-27T14:15:42.093-04:00The unabridged (hardcover)version of STRANGELY ENO...The unabridged (hardcover)version of STRANGELY ENOUGH! does exist; it's from 1959, and I first ran across it in 5th grade, at Charleston Elementary School, in Lorain, Ohio, in 1966-it was in the school library. Like you, I've owned several copies of the abridged version ("Haunted Schoolhouse" and "The Whistle" being the creepiest stories, IMHO)and had searched for another copy of the original version. I finally found one in the Children's Section at the Main Branch of the Cleveland Public Library, a few years ago; it may still be there.-Alan D Hopewellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05588625423455924651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4315519825552066003.post-71425333918905496532009-11-11T11:46:21.733-05:002009-11-11T11:46:21.733-05:00@ planettom:
Hey, thanks for reading!
Having spe...@ planettom:<br /><br />Hey, thanks for reading!<br /><br />Having spent <i>way</i> too much time searching for the unabridged version of <i>Strangely Enough</i>, I'm tempted to agree with you--we're deep into the Land of Apocrypha. Still, whenever I'm in a used bookstore I look around for a copy... just in case.G. W. Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14581395028002255543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4315519825552066003.post-37921515902872494712009-11-10T19:46:55.080-05:002009-11-10T19:46:55.080-05:00I was fascinated with that Scholastic book STRANGE...I was fascinated with that Scholastic book STRANGELY ENOUGH! as well. It was in the 1970s, and I was reading my older brother's hand-me-down copy.<br /><br />But, even back then, I realized, since it was labeled ABRIDGED, that there was a larger version of STRANGELY ENOUGH! out there. I think it was originally published in the late 1940s or 1950s. <br /><br />Probably without justification, I now perceive the original book as something like the mythical S. Morgenstern version of THE PRINCESS BRIDE, or one of those books of forgotten lore mentioned in Lovecraft stories.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4315519825552066003.post-58300493865234619832008-09-30T20:27:00.000-04:002008-09-30T20:27:00.000-04:00I was suddenly thinking the other day about an old...I was suddenly thinking the other day about an old Kate Collins Junior High School classmate in Waynesboro, Virginia, named Boyd Hetrick, who was all the wow in 1970 for his wonderful artistic ability. I tried to search for him on Google, sure that he would be at least semi-famous by now, but the only reference I came up with is from this blog, which on 2Jan08 said: "For some reason I was thinking about him the other day & remembering he was an incredible artist at the time. No Boyd Hetrick, but still...what happened to him?"<BR/>Can you please assist me to get some samples of Boyd's beautiful artwork, or at least some kind of clue as to how to track him down? Thank you very much! You can contact me at johnmica78 (at) yahoo.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4315519825552066003.post-48305525829411558482008-01-04T22:28:00.000-05:002008-01-04T22:28:00.000-05:00Me again. I found out about the Zeldon connection....Me again. <BR/><BR/>I found out about the Zeldon connection. Apparently the Zeldon family was renting the house my family bought back in '57 (the house where my mom still lives), and that's how my dad and Mr. Zeldon became friends. I think my parents allowed them to remain in the house for a while before we moved in--gave them enough time to ready the apartment above the store. <BR/><BR/>Not a very intriguing story, but oh well! Now we know!Cathy VanPattenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10033641091260166563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4315519825552066003.post-74855597561074410122008-01-02T23:29:00.000-05:002008-01-02T23:29:00.000-05:00You know, there are so many things I would love to...You know, there are so many things I would love to ask my dad about his life, now that he's no longer around to offer any answers. A hard lesson to learn, yep. Maybe my mom knows--I think it may have had something to do with a favor Mr. Zeldon did for my folks back when they first moved to W'boro. The first house they lived in was almost in Basic (or maybe actually IN it...)--it was over by Freeds (so you probably know if it was in Basic or not). I'll try to remember to ask her the next time I talk to her.<BR/><BR/>And yes! I remember Mike, vaguely. And Robert Wagner. For some reason, he (Robert) landed in my 12th-grade Government class and was completely overwhelmed by the requirements. We were really snarky to him, but now I think back on it and think he was just a kind of sad case--a dumb and lurch-like hulk of a guy.<BR/><BR/>I'm trying to place John McCrary--I kind of remember the photo studio, but not the kid.Cathy VanPattenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10033641091260166563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4315519825552066003.post-49814444293868418672008-01-02T18:55:00.000-05:002008-01-02T18:55:00.000-05:00Yeah, I can't tell you the number of nights I slep...Yeah, I can't tell you the number of nights I slept with the covers over my head <I>just in case</I>! Didn't stop me from reading 'em.<BR/><BR/>That "lost town" designation annoyed me a little as well, but whaddaya gonna do? As far as I'm concerned, "Basic" remains a proper geographical location.<BR/><BR/>Your father and Mr. Zeldon?--there's <I>got</I> to be an interesting story there!<BR/><BR/>My mother either taught the daughter or had her in homeroom; either way, Mom was heartbroken at the way other kids treated her.<BR/><BR/>And don't forget--Mike Zeldon was in chorus with us during 7th-9th grade (he often sat next to Robert Wagner and they both sat behind me in that wretched tenor/bass section). Mike was actually pretty cool, not the brightest bulb in the box, but a nice guy. I lost track of him when we went to high school and I often wonder what became of him (but not Robert Wagner, particularly).<BR/><BR/>Off-topic--do you remember a John McCrary (sp?) who went to Jackson-Wilson with us? His father ran a rather run-down-looking photography studio behind the Colonial grocery store across from Newberry's. For some reason I was thinking about him the other day and remembering he was an incredible artist at the time. No Boyd Hetrick, but still...what happened to him?G. W. Fergusonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14581395028002255543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4315519825552066003.post-82393738202559691292008-01-01T21:26:00.000-05:002008-01-01T21:26:00.000-05:00Sorry--that should have read "used to take my brot...Sorry--that should have read "used to take my brother and me..."Cathy VanPattenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10033641091260166563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4315519825552066003.post-45128423477271348592008-01-01T19:45:00.000-05:002008-01-01T19:45:00.000-05:00I had that book too!! I used to scare myself readi...I had that book too!! I used to scare myself reading that stuff--all of which I got through Scholastic Book Services. The human combustion stories were always good for several days of the willies. So was one particularly creepy tale of people disappearing in a farm field where others could hear them calling for help for days and days afterwards. Whooooo.<BR/><BR/>What a great Chabon story!<BR/><BR/>By the way, I have to take issue with the Wikipedia article on Basic City--I would hardly call it a "lost town." It was absorbed by Waynesboro, but just about everyone who lives in the Big W still calls that part of town "Basic," don't they? At least they did 'way back when. <BR/><BR/>An aside about Basic. When I was little, my dad used to take my brother and I over to Zeldon's Store over in Basic. I'm not sure what my dad's connection with him was, but they were great friends, and we would often be invited up to the family's apartment above the store. I don't recall going there, though, after I was in first or second grade.<BR/><BR/>Then years later, I found out (it literally took YEARS! I was in high school, I think) that Zeldon's Store was the place kids made fun of and called "Dirty Sam's," Sam being Mr. Zeldon. And the sad, rather threadbare and wan girl that kids teased and called "Rosebud" was Mr. Zeldon's daughter. Weird slice of life...Cathy VanPattenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10033641091260166563noreply@blogger.com